The Preparation of Nano Composites and Their Applications in Solar Energy Conversion

124 Pages·2017·6.47 MB·English

by  Nailiang Yang (auth.)

Springer Theses
Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research
Nailiang Yang

The Preparation of
Nano Composites
and Their
Applications in Solar
Energy Conversion
Springer Theses
Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research
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Nailiang Yang
The Preparation of Nano
Composites and Their
Applications in Solar Energy
Conversion
Doctoral thesis accepted by University of Chinese
Academy of Sciences, China
123
Author Supervisor
Dr. Nailiang Yang Prof. DanWang
Institute of Process Engineering Institute of Process Engineering
ChineseAcademy of Sciences ChineseAcademy of Sciences
Beijing Beijing
China China
ISSN 2190-5053 ISSN 2190-5061 (electronic)
SpringerTheses
ISBN978-3-662-53483-0 ISBN978-3-662-53485-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-53485-4
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’
Supervisor s Foreword
IfirstmetNailiangin2006whenhewasstillabachelor’scandidateinSun-Yet-Sen
University. At that time, heinterviewed in ourinstitute for doctorate degree. I was
very glad to see a young student who was so obsessed with science and had such
solid knowledge in chemistry; hence, I introduced him to our group. After five
yearsofresearch,Iamveryhappytoseearisingyoungscientistcomingfromour
group.Thisbooknotonlycomprisesasummaryofscientificthesisbutalsoservesa
review of his life in those years.
His main worksare based on thenovel two-dimensional (2D) carbon materials,
specificallyon grapheneandgraphdiyne,whichareconsidered astherising starin
materials science. In this topic, he also focused on the applications of their
nanocomposites forms with solar cells and photocatalysis as specialties. These
works can be considered as the pioneer of graphene-related research, started two
years before the announcement of graphene works in the Nobel Prize. The basis
of these works was also the first few papers which reported and proved the charge
transport between graphene and other semiconductors, and hence received many
citations.Beyondthem,inthisthesis, hepointedoutthepotential applications and
designationforgraphenecompositereferringthestructureandfunctionofgranum,
which may be beneficial for designing new integrated circuit and chips.
Importantly,healsohonestlylistedthedefectsofrecentresearchinthisfieldtogive
athoroughguide forfurtherimprovement.Intheboomingageoftwo-dimensional
nanomaterials,Iamconfidentthattheideasfromthisthesiscanalsobereferredand
extended to other materials.
Ihopethepublicationofthisthesiswillbesmooth,toallowmorereadersgrasp
new ideas from his discussions. As I know from him, Nailiang is still working on
thesynthesisandassemblyofnovelnanomaterialsafterhisgraduation.Abroadand
kind discussion with the author in the future will be very beneficial for both the
readers and him.
Beijing, China Prof. Dan Wang
July 2016
v
Acknowledgments
Aftergraduationof3years,itistimetorereadtheoriginalacknowledgment,andI
can still feel my mixed feelings at that moment. Nine years ago, I walked through
the gate of Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (now named as
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences), and started my scientific research.
Since then, I have witnessed lots of graduate defences, and every time I asked
myselfwhatitwouldbelikeformine.IthoughtaboutwhatIshouldwriteandsay
in the acknowledgment. Now I understand that one can never know where to start
howtowriteuntilthatverymoment.Inthismorethanfiveyears’period,Ihavetoo
many things to say, with all the memories flashing in my mind. With the time
prolonged, there are more and more people to whom I need to express my thanks.
Because of them, I have this opportunity to write this acknowledgment. Because
ofthem,Icouldovercomethedifficultbarriers andbecause ofthem,Icouldenjoy
the fantastic research life.
First, with no doubt, I would like to express my great thanks to my supervisor,
Prof.DanWang.Ifirstmethiminthesummerof2006,andheledmetothepalace
ofscience.Intheseyears,hegavemelotofopportunitiestoexercise,sothatIcan
access to the most advanced technology area, which made me grow up rapidly in
science.Inacademy,hisopenandactivemind,accompaniedwithhishardworking
deeply impressedme; inlife,he isa model asa man infamilyand concernsabout
our happiness and health. To us students, he is more than a teacher, a friend.
Since 2008, I had the chance to attend the academician Lei Jiang’s group and
started afive-year research asajointdoctoralcandidate. What Ihave tosayis, the
most impressive thing about Prof. Jiang is his strong “aura”, which is full of con-
fidenceandenergy,andIalwaysfeltnervouswhentalkingwithhim.Butwithtime
passingby,Istartedtoknowheisveryhumorousandeasy-going.Heisalwaysglad
tohelpandencouragestudentstoimmerse inscience.Inthoseyears,Iadmiredon
hisbroadknowledgeandsmartideasverymuch.Hetaughtustostaycuriousabout
everything happening around us, and to explore the scientific reason behind it. He
taughtustheevolutionofnatureisagoodteacherforscientists,andnaturecantell
youwhyitshouldbelikethis.HetaughtustofollowthetraditionalideasinChinese
vii
viii Acknowledgments
culture, such as the philosophy of “Dao” and “Yin-Yang”. He taught us the syn-
ergistic effects in nature and applying them in science. He supplied the best
equipmentforresearchandsupportedourideaspositively.Moreover,heencouraged
us togo abroad, toknow more about the scientific frontier. Thank you, Sir.
Also,IwouldliketothankforProf.JinZhaiinBeihangUniversity.Sheguided
methoroughlyintheexperimentandpaperwriting.Iadmireherverymuchforher
solid chemistry knowledge and sensitive sense to the hottest topics in science.
ThankstoherthatIwassupportedtoattendlotsofacademicconferencesandmeet
many top scientists in the world, and know the culture of other countries.
Iwouldalsoliketothankotherstaffsinourgroup,namelyDanMao,Xiaoyong
Lai,JianxiYao,ChaojianXing,NanXu,MeiYang,LuoxinYi,ZhudongHu,Jiajia
Wu, and Quan Jin. You provided a kind environment in my daily life and studies.
Also many thanks to the labmates, Jun Li, Zhenmin Li, Ronghai Zhu, Shengdong
Wang, Rongguo Xu, Xiaoqing Jiang, Li Li, Jiang Du, Ying Cui, Yuanyuan Liu,
Shuo Wang, Zhenghong Dong, Gongling Wang, Hongjie Tang, Jiangyan Wang,
Yu Yang, Hao Ren, Simeng Xu, Dong Guo, Wei Xu, and others; because of you,
we formed an active group, which brought us lot of happiness beyond the exper-
iments. Ialso wanttoexpressmythanks toDr.YuanyuanLiuandMr. Yibo Zhao
for their kind help, which helped the conclusion of Chap. 5, and to Yu Zhang and
Qi Yuan, who accompanied me to finish the LBL work through many nights. In
addition,IwouldliketoexpressmythanksforJingtaoWangandJiweiLi’shelpin
theAu-DSSCwork,andalsototheteachers,Ms.LijuanGuo,Ms.JingWang,and
Mr.JianghuaMainIPE,whoprovidedgoodlifeandexperimentexperiencesforall
the graduated students.
Furthermore, dear Academician Daoben Zhu, thanks for guiding me in the
synthesis and characterization of graphene. Dear Prof. Zhiyong Tang, Prof.
Zhixiang Wei and Prof. Dong Han in Nanocenter, thanks for helping me in the
material characterization. Dear Prof. Meixiang Wan, thanks for helping me in
conductive polymer. Dear Prof. Qinghua Fan, thanks for helping me in organic
synthesis.DearProf.DongshengLiuinTsinghuaUniversity,thanksforhelpingme
in the gold synthesis. Dear Prof. Tianxin Wei in Beijing Institute of Technology,
thanksforhelpingmeininthepreparingthegoldfilmandSPRtesting.DearProf.
Jingxia Wang, Dr. Yu Huang and Dr. Libin Wang, thanks for helping me in PS
synthesis and assembly. Dear Mrs. Guilan Wang and Dr. Ye Tian, thanks for
helping me in the supporting of experimental and daily life. Dear Prof. Hao Wen,
thanks for helping me in the thesis guiding and writing. Dear Dr. Luoxin Yi and
Dr. Hao Ren, thanks for helping me in the thesis modification. And dear Ms. Ye
Chen, thanks for helping me in the help of thesis translation.
I also want to express my thanks to all the group members in Prof. Lei Jiang,
Prof.YanlinSongandProf.QinghuaFan’sgroupinICCAS,thegroupmembersin
Prof.JinZhaiandProf.YingZhu’sgroupinBUAAandallthegroupmembersin
Prof. Dongsheng Liu’s group in Tsinghua University. Thanks you for the sup-
porting and discussion in experiment.
WealsothanktheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina,NationalBasic
Research Program, 863 Program, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex
Acknowledgments ix
Systems, Ph.D. Programs Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China and
BeijingMunicipalNaturalScienceFoundationforthecontinuingfinancialsupport.
Here, I would like to appreciate my wife, Dr. Liying Wang. Because of the
simplewords“Ido”12yearsago,wedecidedtomoveforwardtogether.Nomatter
whatkindoftroublewefacedtheseyears,Icanalwaysgetthesupportfromher.In
thepast12years’lifeofstudyandwork,Ifeltsoblessedtohaveheralwaysstaying
with me, encouraging me, comforting my sadness, and sharing my happiness.
Because of her, I gained confidence to finish my doctor career; because of her, I
overcamethedifficultiesonebyone;becauseofher,Ireceivedsomuchjoywhich
could never happen without her. It is fortunate to be with her.
Lastly, I need to say that the source of my happiness is also from my beloved
parents.Theyalwaystakecareofmybusinessaspriority,blessmesafeandhappy,
andsupportmychoices.Althoughourdistancebecamefarthergeographically,their
concern wasgettingcloser.Since 2003,Ispentlessertime with them.Iknowthey
wantmetobearound,buttheyalsohopethatIwouldfightformyowncareerfora
brighter future, so they even encouraged me to go overseas. This is the priceless
love I will forever appreciate.
Yunnan Garden, Singapore
May 2016
Contents
1 Introduction.... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1
1.1 Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell (DSSC) .... .... .... .... ..... .... 2
1.1.1 Development of Solar Cells ... .... .... .... ..... .... 2
1.1.2 Basic Principle of DSSC.. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 5
1.1.3 Introduction of the Constitution of DSSC. .... ..... .... 10
1.2 Photocatalysis... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 15
1.2.1 Principle . .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 15
1.2.2 Modification of Catalyst .. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 17
1.3 Carbon Materials in Photoelectric Conversion System . ..... .... 20
1.3.1 Donor–Acceptor Photovoltaic Material Based
on Zero-Dimensional Fullerenes .... .... .... ..... .... 20
1.3.2 Application of One-Dimensional Carbon Nanotubes
in Photoelectric Conversion System . .... .... ..... .... 22
1.3.3 Applications of Two-Dimensional Carbon Materials
in Photoelectric Conversion System . .... .... ..... .... 24
1.4 Novelty and Significance of This Thesis ... .... .... ..... .... 33
References.. .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 35
2 Two-Dimensional Graphene Bridges Enhanced Photoinduced
Charge Transport in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.... .... ..... .... 41
2.1 Introduction .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 41
2.2 Results and Discussion..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 42
2.2.1 The Characterization of GO and Graphene.... ..... .... 42
2.2.2 Photocurrent–Voltage (I–V) Characteristics of Different
Electrodes.... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 43
2.2.3 Incident Monochromatic Photo-to-Current Conversion
Efficiency (IPCE) Performance of Different Electrodes.... 46
2.2.4 Electrochemical Impedance Spectra (EIS) Measurement
of Different Electrodes ... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 50
2.2.5 Operational Principle of Device .... .... .... ..... .... 51
xi